Charles French Chapman Biographical Sketch from Beers History of Warren County, Ohio
This page is part of the Warren County Ohio GenWeb project
You are our [an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor since 11 March 2005-- thanks for stopping by!
Biographies with Warren County Connections

Charles French Chapman

Previous
Index
Next
Contributor::

Transcription contributed by Martie Callihan 11 March 2005

Sources:
The History of Warren County Ohio
Part V. Biographical Sketches
Wayne Township
(Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992)

Page
826

CHARLES F. CHAPMAN, Waynesville. Few, if any, of the heads of families of Wayne Township, whose histories are embalmed in these pages, can boast as clear a descent through eight generations to as honorable source as can Mr. Charles French Chapman. The writer expresses the emphatic opinion that in the whole of Warren County there are not a half dozen others who can trace their genealogy in an unbroken line back to the early part of the seventeenth century, and produce documents in attestation of their claim. This fact must be the apology—if, in the seeming interests of modesty, apology were necessary—for this biography appearing here in its somewhat expansive form; this, and the additional fact that Mr. Chapman is the only surviving member of his father's family now living in Warren County. In order to present in a systematic manner the history of the Chapman family, it is extremely gratifying to be able to refer to a quaint, curious and ancient manuscript, yellow and stained with age, and the very penmanship of which, even were there no dates, proving it to be a product of

"The olden time, long ago."

From this venerable manuscript, written in beautiful legibility by John Chapman, son of the first settler of Wrightstown, Penn., we quote as follows: "John Chapman, who was the first settler in Wrightstown, was born in Stanhaw, in the county of York, in Old England, of honest and godly parents. his father's name was likewise John Chapman, but there is no account readily to be had of his mother, and he himself is said to have been, even from his youth, of a very laudable deportment, and, when grown up to maturity, to have been always taken for a very honest, creditable man, and one of repute amongst men for his honest, chaste, sober and godly life, and not in the least found anything inclinable to or conversant with any but honest and godly people, living with them in great unity. The above written account of John Chapman was transcribed from his certificate, which he brought with him from Old England, given and signed there by divers friends at their monthly meeting at Stanhaw. Moreover, by an account given of him in other manuscripts, he suffered con-

Page
827

siderably for his profession (being one of the people called Quakers;, as Anno Domini 1656, when he was at Sunderland, and went to see some friends who were put in the stocks, he, likewise, was commanded to be put there, and there remained all night, but, not opening his mouth to speak a word to his opponents, he was sent the next day to Durham Gaol, and there kept prisoner nine weeks, and then he was released by the Judge and grand jury, there being nothing that could be said against him. Anno Domini 1660, he was carried to York Castle, and there kept prisoner about eight weeks, together with some other friends, because they would not swear. Anno Domini 1666, he had goods taken from him by a Bailiff for a clerk's wages, being but threepence, to the value of 3 shillings and fourpence. Anno Domini 1670, upon the 15th day of the 7th month, the Constable went with a warrant from a certain Justice, upon an information given by one Lover Wood and Ralph Smoithwait, that. Philip Scarth did teach or preach at a seditious meeting, who spoke only to one of the informers. The Constable went, I say, and laid £4 of the above-said Scarth's fine upon said John Chapman, besides 5 shillings for his own fine, as they called it, and for the said fines the Constable took from him five kine which cost him, about three months before, £10, and appraised them at £4 10 shillings, and sold them at that rate. Likewise, in the same year, the Constable went with a warrant, upon an information given by the aforementioned informers, that he was at a seditious meeting, as it was called, for which they fined him 10 shillings and took from him for that 10 shillings, goods to ye value of £1 8 shillings. On the longest day in the year, 1684, John Chapman (being a mariner by occupation), with all his family, set out from Stanhaw, in Yorkshire, in order to come to America. They took ship at Newcastle, upon the River Tyne, and came by the way of Scotland, and, on the 12th day of September, in the aforesaid year, they had a mighty storm, which blew so tempestuously that, in short, it first carried away their boltsprit (sic) and afterward, their three masts, flagstaff and all, by the board, before the sailors were able to get them cut. It likewise took the awning above their quarter-deck, and left not so much as a yard of rope above their heads; all which was done in the space of half an hour, and they lay thus distressed like a pitiful wreck all that night (they having lost their masts about 12 o'clock in the day), and two days after, at the mercy of the seas, the waves being mountain high, occasioned by the great storm of wind. Thus they lay, I say, without hopes of recovery, being then about 200 leagues from the land of America, but, through God's mercy, they got in sight of the capes of Virginia within fifteen days after or thereabouts, by reason of a fair wind, having had a passage of about nine weeks from Aberdeen to the capes of Virginia. They thus being arrived in America, came and settled at Wrightstown, in the county of Bucks and Province of Pennsylvania, about the 10th month, Anno Domini 1684, where they lived until the 5th month, A. D. 1694, about which time John Chapman died and was buried. Likewise, Jane Chapman, his wife, died and was buried by him, about the 9th month, A. D. 1699. The following epitaph on John Chapman is in the handwriting of his son Joseph:

"Behold John Chapman
That good man,
Who first began To settle in this Town,
Prom worldly cares
And doubtful fears
And Satan's snares, Is here laid down,
His soul doth rise
Above the skies
In Paradise, There to wear a lasting crown."

Page
828
Dr. Charles W. Smith, in a sketch of the Early History of Wrightstown, Penn., published in the Bucks County Intelligencer, of April 3. 1855, says: "The first settler was John Chapman who, with his wife and their children — Mara, Ann and John, removed from Yorkshire, having previously purchased of Daniel Toaes, in England, a tract of over 500 acres of land, on which he settled." Up to at least 1855, a great portion of this was still in possession of his descendants, it having never been sold out of his family. "He built a cave," Dr. Smith continues, "for his habitation, in the side of a bank, some remains of which were visible as late as 1768. At this time, Chapman's place was the farthest back in the woods of that of any English family," and the Indians were plentiful, but exceedingly kind to him and his family. Nearly the whole province was then a wilderness, and not an inhabitant in the township. About one year after arriving in the township, his wife, then in the 50th year of her ago, gave birth to twins—Abraham and Joseph, whence, it is said, he called the place Twinsboro. These children lived and died there. They received an education which qualified them for much usefulness. Abraham married Susannah Olden. He was a Justice of the Peace and, for twenty years, a member of the Legislature. He had eight children, of whom Joseph. the youngest, born in 1733, was the great-grandfather of our subject He was a man of high standing, great moral worth and integrity of character. He was a Justice of the Peace, and, at the time of his death, in 1790, was Treasurer of the county. He married Ann Fell and had thirteen children, among them Benjamin, the grandfather of our subject. He was born in 1775, and, in 1797, married Mercy G. Gilpin, by whom he had three children—Joseph, Sarah and Benjamin; he died, Oct. 23, 1802, of yellow fever, contracted from nursing one of his apprentices, aged 27 years. His widow afterward married Charles French. Joseph B. Chapman, the eldest son and father of our subject, was born in Philadelphia in 1798. In 1818, he emigrated with his mother and step-father (Charles French) to Warren Co.. Ohio, and began the general mercantile business in Waynesville, being assisted by Williams & Black, of Philadelphia, who became partners in his first venture. Such was his business ability that, in the course of a few years, he was enabled to buy out his partner's interest, when he continued to conduct the business successfully until his retirement, in 1845. In 1825, he was married to Estheret Walraven, in Wilmington, Del. She died in 1828, leaving one daughter —Ann W., who died in 1845, at the age of 18. His second wife was Charlotte, second daughter of Noah and Anna Haines, which event took place at Miami Monthly Meeting, in Waynesville, on the 16th of the 6th month, 1832. The earliest ancestor of the Haines family, of whom we find record, emigrated also from England about the same time as did John Chapman, and, like him, to escape religious persecution. .Robert Haines, a grandson of the emigrant, was born near Philadelphia about 1750. While yet a lad, his mother emigrated with him to what afterward became Frederick Co., Va. Here he grew to be a useful man, both in the religions society and in the business world—in one owning much property and carrying on many enterprises, and in the other, a zealous minister. Near him lived Lord Fairfax, the eccentric English nobleman, by whom George Washington, when quite a young man, was employed to survey a vast tract of land. Lord Fairfax and his nephew, Col. Martin, extended many courtesies and kindnesses to their Quaker neighbor, who always cherished warm feelings of friendship for both. At the beginning of hostilities in the war for independence, Lord Fairfax returned to his native land, while his kinsmen espoused the side of the colonies. Robert Haines married Margaret Smith, who was born in Wales in 1755, and emigrated to Ohio in 1809. She died in Waynesville in 1835, aged 81 years. They had six children—Noah, the eldest, married
Page
829
Ann Silver, by whom he had nine children, the third of whom, Charlotte, was the mother of Charles F. Chapman. Joseph B. and Charlotte Chapman had four sons and two daughters, viz., Mary, born July 10, 1833, died June 18, 1851, aged 17; Noah Haines, born Jan. 24, 1836; Joseph B., born Feb. 24, 1838; Charles French, born July 6, 1840; Mayaretta, born Dec. 20, 1844; died July 18, 1856, aged 14; James Haines, born 1843; died 1844. aged 4 months. Noah Haines, the eldest son, is now a merchant in New York City. Joseph B. is an extensive lumber dealer in St. Paul, Minn. Of Joseph B. Chapman, Sr., his son, Joseph B., affectionately writes: "He was a leading business man of the section, doing a larger business in the succeeding years than was ever done before or since. His transactions were not confined to buying and selling of goods, but he also dealt in real estate, and bought and shipped large quantities of pork to Baltimore, New Orleans and elsewhere. After the death of his wife, which occurred on the 13th of 6th month, 1844, and in the height of his prosperity, he gave more attention to the closing up of active business relations, and was very watchful and thoughtful of everything pertaining to his family. His health, too, was gradually giving way. Surrounded by a young family of children and a host of warm and admiring friends, he thoughtfully prepared for the life to come; and, when the summons came, "sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust," he breathed his last on the morning of the 31st of August, 1847, aged 49 years 7 months and 3 days "His life appears to have been one in which both much of good and ill fortune was mixed. He was ever of a religious cast of mind, and cheerfully accepted his lot, however heavy the burden. Industrious, frugal and benevolent—of pleasing appearance and address, he possessed many friends. His life was a good one—an example worthy of being followed. Besides bequeathing to his children a no inconsiderable estate materially, this good man addressed them the following letter, abounding in parental affection and godly counsel:

MY DEAR CHILDREN—From an impression of duty and under a tender concern for your everlasting welfare, as your dear mother has been taken from you in your tender age, and as in all probability I shall not be spared long to have an eye to you, I have felt that what I have to say to you may be of service, if you attentively heed it, as my experience of the tender dealings of a gracious God, extended in mercy to me, and who is wining and waiting to extend the same and more of His goodness to you. Seeing that our stay in this world is at most but very short, and that as we live in the love of our Heavenly Father, we shall, and only can live in love and peace with all men; and that this love and peace is that which can make us happy here and hereafter; I want you to cultivate it more than anything else, and endeavor after it in secret prayer to your Heavenly Father, and He will, if you are sincere after it, confer it upon you, as well as every other good and desirable thing to make you happy.

Let not your minds go out after dress or much company, neither after any of the things of this world, as they are all perishable, and cannot long continue to please, but must soon pass away ; and if your delight is in them, they must leave you miserable?

What company you must have, let it be of a sober, serious kind, who are good examples in word and conduct. Such may be profitable to you; but, above all, seek the Lord, and often hold secret, sweet communion with Him, by meditating upon His goodness, His mercy, extended to you for your acceptance and preservation.

Be not slothful or idle in business, as it is your reasonable duty to procure sufficient of the good things of this world for the use of the body; but set not your minds and affections upon them, but to use them thankfully as trusts from your bountiful Creator. Give Him all the thanks and praise, and while your hands are employed in lawful pursuits, let your hearts be ascribing high praises to His great name, for He is worthy.

Endeavor to keep as much about home as possible, and out of the confusion and spirit of the world as you can; not mixing with its policies and associations, as they are most generally out of the truth, and of that spirit of peace that is of God.

The way to peace, here and hereafter, is a narrow way, and a way of much self-denial. It may appear hard at first to deny ourselves many of the things of this world, but it will become easy and pleasant by use, when we feel that our peace is in it; and as your affections are placed above, your desires will be on heaven and heavenly things ; it will then be a pleasure to deny yourselves all that your peace of mind is not in.

Page
830
Your dear mother was favored to see her way clear to a mansion of rest in a marvelous degree, so that time and the things of time had no power to interest or hold her affections here, but anxiously waited and quietly hoped for her change to come, under a full persuasion and assurance that all would be well with her in her sweet Savior's rest. So clearly did she see it, that she was not willing to take any medicine that would tend to prolong her stay on earth. Yet, in the forepart of her last sickness, she had hard struggling and conflict of spirit to arrive at this desirable condition and to give up you, her dear children, and other near and dear outward ties to life; and realizing our blessed Lord's assurance, that everyone that "forsakes houses, lands, brethren, sisters, father, mother, wife and children for His sake, should receive a hundred-fold more in this world, and in the world to come eternal life."

This, then, being the greatest possible blessing that we poor mortals can obtain, every effort of spirit, every energy of mind should be directed to it, that, under the blessing of the Highest upon our endeavors, we may happily obtain it in this our short pilgrimage on earth. And I can in some measure assure you, my precious ones, that as you endeavor after it with full purpose of heart, you will find the way more and more prepared for you ; you will find an increase of the "love of God" in your spirits, and that in this love you will be gently drawn by it into those paths that lead to peace, and into that which will preserve you from every evil way and thing.

My desire is that when the boys have obtained a good share of schooling to qualify them for business, they should learn the business of farming, and reside in the country, and not associate with young, gay and volatile company, as the example and association of the towns are very corrupting to the young and tender mind—it being much easier to avoid than to correct contracted evil habits. Agriculture is honorable, heathful and innocent in its associations, much more so than trading, or town trades than their associations of young people.

The girls I should wish accustomed to industry and the actual duties of housewifery. All to dress plainly, and to use the plain language—the simplicity, frugality and orderly deportment of Friends ; and to be placed with orderly Friends, whose example and orderly walking may conduce to their preservation from the abounding liberties, extravagances and excesses of this age and time. And I desire and would impress it upon your minds deeply, as a solemn truth, never to forget or lose sight of, that your Heavenly Father is always in spirit with you, knows all your thoughts, words and act ; and that you will, in the great day of account, when you leave this world, have to account therefor; therefore. be diligent and watchful, that you say nothing that would grieve His Holy Spirit, as it will tend to destroy your peace of mind here, and separate you from His love ; and if not atoned for before you leave this world, will tend to your everlasting misery.

Let your reading be of a solid kind, and do not indulge in light fiction or novel ; even the tales in the newspapers of the day, as there is nothing profitable or good in them, but much to corrupt and draw you away from that which is good.

Neither mix nor take part with the political affairs of the day, of any kind or character.
Let your reading and religion be that of the Bible, and especially of the precepts and example, and inward teaching in spirit, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as it is sufficient for all things; and if you have this, you need not desire any other.

I should wish you to continue members of the Society of Friends; not because I think they are the only Christians, or good people, in the world, but because I think their doctrine, example and life, when they are lived in and up to, is the best I know of. and is better calculated to keep you out of the extravagances and excesses of the world than any other.

Yet, even this, lived in and up to, in its purity, can be only a hedge about us, and as a schoolmaster to bring us to' Christ, the head of all, whom alone we will have to learn, and whose cross we will have to take up and follow Him, if ever we become members of the true Church of which He is the head and high priest, let our names and associations be what they may with men.

And to Him, and to the word of His power, I commend you in all godliness, and in all things, who is able to keep you now and preserve you from all the defiling things of time, and to give you an inheritance in His everlasting kingdom, where He is set down with the Father, in His Kingdom, in eternal glory.

Your father who loves you more than pen can write,

12th Mo., 20th. 1846.
JOSEPH B. CHAPMAN.

How manly in its integrity, yet how childlike in its simple, unquestioning faith in the mercy and goodness of the Divine Being, must have been the heart of the man who penned that letter. Reading, we exclaim to ourselves, "Surely here was one who kept himself 'unspotted from the world'—uncontaminated by its defilements, proof against its temptations, unyielding to its allurements —a stalwart Christian, a man of God, living day by day and hour by hour in sweet and sacred communion with his Lord and Master. To have had a father

Page
831
or a mother of such lofty Christian character is a legacy of more value than countless earthly treasure; and the epistle quoted, though couched in no high-sounding, pretentious rhetoric, yet so full of wisdom, affection and truth, is worthy of being handed down to the latest descendant of him whose hand, now long since mingled with its native element, traced it in letters of living light. From both the Chapman and Haines sides, Mr. Charles F. Chapman inherits naught but pure English blood—no admixture of that of any other race entering into his composition. And, without boasting or vain self-congratulation, it may be added that his blood is of the same quality as was that which long ago coursed through the veins and inspired the souls of "the noble army of martyrs." John Chapman, like St. Paul, was "in prisons of ten," "in perils by sea, in perils by land," on account of his faith, yet he, like Paul, was unmoved thereby; he swerved not from the line of duty; he was willing to suffer, nay, he would have died, in defending and maintaining his faith, had the sacrifice been of more avail than his escaping to a land where he could plant the germs of religious liberty and establish an asylum to which other persecuted ones might flee for refuge. His posterity should for evermore picture him with an aureole of glory encircling his head, for 'tis ecstacy and inspiration to think of such moral heroes and a heritage of which kings might be proud to have sprung from such a source. In this connection, it is only in verification of Scripture promise to add that the descendants of this moral hero have thus far proved worthy of their ancestry, very few, if any, of the succeeding generations having been at all recreant or failed to live up to the traditions of their forefathers. The days have passed, it is true, when men are persecuted in just the same manner as of old—"for righteousness' sake," but to depart not in these latter days, when infidelity is rampant, from the faith and admonitions of godly parents, is no small credit to any one; and, were the exigency to arise, the same spirit and fire, doubtless, would be found latent and ready to suffer and do battle for the right, albeit not with carnal weapons, but with the more effectual "sword of the spirit" Mr. Charles F. Chapman's name appropriately heads this sketch, he being the only (although the youngest child) representative of the family now living in his native State and township. He was, born in Waynesville, and, at the age of 4 years, was left motherless, and, three years later, his father died. Then, with his two brothers, he was placed by their guardian, in charge of a farmer in Clark County, a farm life being considered conducive to the boys' muscular development and general health. We pass briefly over the years thus spent by these sensitive and tenderly-reared orphan boys, who, however, look back to that part of their life as the darkest they ever knew. Alone among strangers, all their sorrows and trials were mitigated only by being mutually shared and confided to their pillows at night in copious showers of tears. Here Charles remained four years, when he was sent to Greenmount College, at Richmond, Ind., where he studied during winter and returned to his toil on the farm in summer. He afterward entered Wittenberg College, at Springfield, Ohio, where he became proficient in mathematics and the German language, besides the other more practical branches of a liberal education. He did not graduate, however, the ambition firing his youthful mind to become a farmer on his own responsibility. He therefore, in 1859, bought the beautiful country seat where he now resides, overlooking the fertile vale from the east of the Little Miami River, and went to work with his characteristic enthusiasm, becoming a sturdy yoeman before he was 19. In 1864, in partnership with his uncle, the Hon. S. S. Haines, and his brother, Joseph B., he embarked in the wholesale grocery business in Cincinnati, which he followed successfully for two years, but was admonished, by some severe hemorrhages of the lungs, to close his connection there and return to country life. On the 2d of June, 1874, he married Miss Elizabeth Matilda, daughter of Jo-
Page
832
seph and Catharine A. Stanton, of Springboro, Warren Go. (whose history may be found elsewhere in these pages) .and by whom he has had three children— Margaret G., born Nov. 20, 1875; Joseph B., born Feb. 6, 1877; James Albert, born Sept. 18, 1879. In 1876, with health re-established, Mr. Chapman entered the grain and commission business in Chicago, but, after a successful career of three years, he was warned a second time, by the return of his former malady, that a city was no place for him, and he fled to the refuge of his farm, forever abandoning any desire for distinction in the commercial world. He has ever since employed himself in the cultivation and beautification of his broad acres and enjoys the reputation of being a model farmer, which the appearance of his estate abundantly justifies. Personally, Charles F. Chapman is somewhat above medium height, rather inclining to slender than full habit, erect and dignified in movement and deportment—a splendid physique being surmounted with a fine intellectual head. In short, from youth to maturity, we have always regarded him as an exceptional instance of handsome manhood a manly man. His tastes being rather for business than literary pursuits (his being what might be termed "a mathematical mind"), he is, nevertheless keenly susceptible to all the refining influences of culture in its broadest sense, and his tasteful suburban home is made a fit abode for a wife who is a rare combination of all womanly virtues and three cherub children, whom to see is to love. Neither going to extreme in luxury nor its opposite, he perceives with an eye and instinct of a true philosopher whatever is useful and beautiful, whether in art, literature or material things, and brings all under contribution for the formation of his children's character and for making home happy. Finding the life of a city, with its increasing whirl and exhausting cares jeopardizing to his health, he flung ambition for commercial eminence to the winds, and wisely and unmurmuringly accepted the situation, resolving thenceforth, with his dear ones, to retreat to his rural abode, there to live in Arcadian simplicity and devote himself unreservedly to the well-being of his family, in all his relations to which "Tender and True" may justly be applied to him. But not uninterruptedly is Mr. Chapman permitted to enjoy the life of a recluse. His business abilities are too well known and appreciated for that to be practicable. For years, therefore, he has been a director of the Waynesville National Bank and one of the trustees of the Miami Cemetery Association, two of our most important local enterprises. Other dignities, political and otherwise, might have been his, but for his preference for a quiet life and non-self-assertive disposition. And his neighbors and friends, when in extremity, are always glad to appeal to him in any case where sound, far-seeing discretion and judgment or financial accuracy are essential. Goethe says, "They know not men who fear them." To the class who do fear men they do not understand, Mr. Chapman may seem inaccessible upon first approach, but, upon closer acquaintance, this coat of mail, which is, in reality, but the veil of diffidence, or mental absorption, rather than studied reserve or misanthrophy, melts into thin air, and underneath is found a warm, congenial nature; not, indeed, one of that vulgar kind which requires a legion of indiscriminate acquaintances to occupy its own emptiness and make life endurable, but one satisfied with friends few but true—tried and found worthy of deepest esteem —he who finds in his home an earthly paradise, and whose greatest joy and care is to make it to those who share it with him the shrine about which all their dearest affections revolve. With such a nature, happiness is easily possible; and when, as in Mr. Chapman's case, all the material accessions are at his command, his future and that of his beloved ones, is surely bright with promise. That they all may live long years to enjoy, un-marred by discord, unclouded by sorrow, the horoscope thus cast for them, is the sincere wish of the writer.

Drew Sweet.
Waynesville, Ohio, April 24, 1882.


FOOTNOTES: [a place to add additional information that you might want to submit]

     

Previous
Index
Next

NOTICE: All documents and electronic images placed on the Warren County OHGenWeb site remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. These documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or their legal representative, and contact the listed Warren County OHGenWeb coordinator with proof of this consent.

This page created 11 March 2005 and last updated 28 January, 2006
© 2005-2006  Arne H Trelvik  All rights reserved